In the offices and kitchens and bedrooms across Australia, bodies bent like cashews, sit. The blue light from computer screens flick up their faces as a tappity tap-tap sound is heard. Read more

Theatre relies on memory. For the audience, it is the only thing that remains after the warm buzz of the event itself – an impression about the show, or characters, or theatre experience – that sits in and with us for the rest of our lives – should memory permit. For the industry – actors need their memory for the obvious line-delivery/stagecraft reasons. Directors need it for the selection of team/play/design. We need memory to ensure we do not re-invent the wheel, but also so we can change/improve upon the wheel. And memory is a fickle thing – carried by the practitioners, audiences that every now and then a brave soul attempts to trap a memory on paper. Try to shape or make sense of the past in words. Read more

Last year, the NSW Premier made a terrible mistake. Terrible. The decision was made not to award a literary award for playwriting. Terrible. And yet… wonderful. Read more

There’s that feeling just before a meeting or a launch – where I feel different. My skin feels thin, sounds seem louder, my eyes are keener and dart around examining everything. I am ultra aware, ultra wired, ultra ready. Read more

Friday was a stunning Sydney day. Three things- The Writer’s Festival, a series of absurdly ill-timed computer crashes and one of my best ever/long-time friends lured me down to the Wharf on Hickson Bay to sit among the readers and writers and listen to some talks. Read more

From the moment my 12 year-old palm was pressed onto the tiles of the Sydney Opera House, I was in love. Not just with the architecture – not just with the harbour and the natural beauty surrounding it in the botanical gardens -but the history, the people, the culture. (Yes, I used the ‘c’ word.) It’s a beautiful place – and an interesting place – a new city – with some established traditions, and a sense of urgency Read more

It’s not a secret. There is an abundance of short form theatre proliferating on Sydney stages. And it’s not just in the independent and amateur sector – with two of Sydney’s main stage companies turning to short form theatre to fill their season – Sydney Theatre Company’s Money Shots (6, 15 minute plays about money) and Belvoir’s The Kiss four short plays bundled together from Australia and beyond to examine The Kiss. Read more

During the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival season there is no shortage of arts and cultural events to choose from that contain the theme of or focus on facets of life and issues facing the gay community – identity, love, violence, visibility, politics, AIDS, gay pride, acceptance, alienation, prejudice. The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras is an important part of the Sydney calender, it is a celebration of community and for me serves as a reminder of the issues that face our society. As such it is also a time when gay themed theatre is showcased and I thought I would write a quick post on some of the themes and ideas which I have noticed in the productions I have attended. Read more

Two discussions in a week. Pretty big discussions. It seems Sydney is bracing itself for a change of government – a foregone conclusion considering the haphazard nature of our public transport system and the swinging voters of the west, so they say. So what happens when change is threatening? A small group mobilizes and others seem to sit on chairs and philosophize about art. Read more

Yesterday, amid the heat of Sydney’s summer, the Sydney wharfs were buzzing with people. Lachlan Philpott (fabulous and celebrated writer and leader of ATYP’s Fresh Ink program) addressed a throng of young actors on the eve of their opening night of Tell it Like it Isn’t… ATYP classes were being picked up by supportive parents. Sydney Dance Cafe was hosting the usual lithe bodies and one on one conversations. The water. The heat. I was setting up Playwriting Australia’s banner with the lovely General Manager Elizabeth in preparation of the launch of the 2011 Play Festival season. My phone was buzzing with texts from friends and colleagues wanting to tee-up coffee dates and industry chats… Read more